International Cinema: The Tribe (2014)

Ms. Kisner reviews The Tribe.

This is some weird fetish crap.

It’s impossible to describe the premise of The Tribe without sounding like a
pretentious film snob. The Tribe is
filmed entirely with deaf actors using Ukrainian sign language and is presented
with no subtitles. There is zero spoken word during the movie, though the ambient
background noises are still present. While this could be taken as a parody of
what people think arthouse films are like, it is actually far from the truth. Director
Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy manages to make a watchable and downright mesmerizing
film despite the lack of spoken dialogue.

The film takes place in a boarding school for deaf teenagers
and centers around a young man who is new to the school. He gets swept into a
gang of boys who are into nefarious criminal activities to include theft and
even pimping out some of the girls who are also attending the school. Since
everything is in sign language, it’s up to the viewer to piece together what is
going on by using context and body language. In this way, The Tribe functions as a modern version of a silent film because
the actors use their entire bodies to emote and convey ideas. I found myself
starting to pay attention to different aspects of the actors after a while—things
like: their stance, how they were using their hands, and how close or far away
they were standing. It was surprising how easily I could
follow what was going on even though I was missing specific details about the
characters (like even their names).

So, are you George, John, Paul or Ringo?I can't tell.

What stands out the most in this film is the excellent camerawork.
Each scene is like its own little short story or vignette and has a flow and
style. There are several amazing tracking shots and some outstanding wide shots
that enhance the intensity of the movie. Speaking of intensity, The Tribe is not an easy watch. It’s
brutal and visceral with some truly disturbing sequences. It reminds me of
Larry Clark’s Kids (1995) in that it
has disaffected youth who are running rampart without adult supervision. There
is also a lot of sexual intercourse depicted and not all of it is consensual. That
being said, it’s not used for exploitation purposes but as an unflinching look
into the world of young adults. It has a documentary feel to the proceedings
though the fancy camera work belies this notion.All of the actors in the film are completely convincing in
their roles. There is a sort of love story between two of the characters and although
you can’t understand any of the conversations they have with each other the
passion they feel for one another is completely palpable. When a person goes
deaf or is born deaf, they are essentially cut-off from the world because of
their inability to communicate with other people. In The Tribe, the audience gets to have a taste of what this feels
like because they cannot understand the sign language being used by the actors.
This irony is what makes this film so intriguing to experience.We are outsiders to their world just as they
are outsiders to ours.Be kind. Share this review.Score: